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Sunday, 12 December 2010

Long time. I believe, it should be one of the longest breaks that I have taken from writing. From the day I landed in my hometown, Hubli, I have not written anything. Of course, there was plenty to write about but no time to write it. A lot things have been happening as always. The usual hopping from idhar chala main udhar chala to jaane kahaan main kidhar chala is on its way. The kabhi haan kabhi naa circus along with kabhi kushi kabhie gham soap is at its best again. The mind does a lot of kabhi bhoola kabhi yaad kiya all time questioning me kya karein kya naa karein. Of course, yeh kaisi muskil haay and koi bhi na batha sake iska hal tho mere bhai. And is tarah se na hi hum jee sakhenge aur na hi mar sakhenge. However, finally Lakshya has taken the hit, the darker meaning of hit. Lakshya tho har haal mein paana tha but lagta hai gaaunga jindagi bhar bas yeh gaana, 'Main Aisa Kyun Hoon?'

Today, I wish to openly accept that owing to all circumstances of life, I accept the defeat from myself for I could not reach the target of studying for my CA exams. Yes, its an open acceptance of defeat. My mind has defeated my heart finally, yet again. However, its done in a perfect style like never before. It has killed the heart in such a way that it would never again dare to challenge the mind. 3 Idiots told me that the heart is very fearful and we must fool it and keep saying 'all izz well'. In fact, I preached this funda to the world even before 5 point someone was written. My friends know that well. I used to constantly say, 'Nothing will happen. Alls well'. But then, my own concept has finally cheated me. Nothing is well. Nothing would ever be well by fooling your heart. Whats more important and required is effort. No effort, no result

I took a break from my job in order to study for CA. I did try and convince myself that I will do it. A lot of drama happened. I landed in Bangalore from Hyderabad, attended CA coaching classes, went for a week, came to Hubli for a festival, some conditions here did not make me feel like going back, I thought of living here for a week more and go back, yet the circumstances did not change, I thought 'why go Bangalore and waste money, let me study here and save money', I tried to study, I joined a gym as well (of course, not to study), I did study for some time but nothing worthy to mention, I went through a lot of complications in this already complicated web of life as everyone on this earth has so much time to give free advice which is totally opposite to the free advice given by them previously and in the process, you end up paying heavily

So, yes, the mind has won. Congratulations!

And yes, bad luck heart. Better luck next time (if you could still dare to even get up)

And ultimately, the top track for life is yet again

Karna hai kya mujhko, yeh maine kab hai jaana

Lagta hai gaunga, jindagi bhar bas yeh gaana

Hoga jaane mera ab kya, koi tho bataye mujhe

Gadbad hai yeh sab kya, koi samjhaye mujhe

Jaane ab mera hona kya hai, lagta hai tumko

Ya main hoon jaisa bas waisa rahoonga???

I would love to thank Blogger for having been such a great platform for me to open up my mind. My mind is just like a recycle bin. There are so many dumps that happen each day in it. And each time, it becomes very necessary to empty the recycle bin. Out of all the complicated thoughts that crap my mind everyday, its great to put them out at the end of the day and feel relaxed. Most times, I have this habit of not expressing happiness or love or anything good but to write more on issues that are of the other nature. The only reason, I believe, might be to free my mind from the web of complexities. The simple ones might not deserve a mention. Many a times, you would find no one listen to all crap (of course, how the hell can I expect someone to listen to it) and this acts like a perfect means to put it out. And people think that writers are very great

Single again might not be an apt phrase to express the new mode of life that I am about to enter now. However, the situation is more or less the same. Of course I can say, ready to mingle for new opportunities

Wednesday, 1 September 2010

2010 begun in high spirits with big aims, aspirations and great hopes. Soon, I realised that I took a step that was quite daring and bold but later did I realize that this step, though correct, will do no good to my life. Life was running pretty smooth at ICICI Bank in a pretty beautiful city of Hyderabad. 2009 was a good year of progress. At work, I had started to get a good amount of recognition and affiliation. Just then, something happened that I decided to leave the job and do something else. What something else? There were thousands of answers to this but after I left the job, all these answers became questions. I moved from Hyderabad to Bengaluru with a lot of seriousness to study for CA PE-II exams and joined a coaching class as well. The spirit did not last for more than 2 weeks. I packed up things and landed in Hubli. Reasons were many like the classes were not that good, the fees is too high, the cost of living is too high, etc. but the intent was very clear. I had lost it. I still thought I will try & study at home- a task in which I have not succeded in 23 years. Things started getting worse and soon, things got so worse that the controlling power slipped off. I thought of getting back to work but I was stopped by the thought of exams. A lot of drama kept happening and finally the exam time came. I gave an extempore attempt at it and the result was obvious. The last time I had given this exam, I did not even check the result as I never thought I could clear it. The same is the case this time too

After this, I started a job hunt and in about 3 weeks, I was able to get a farily good job at HDFC Bank. These 3 weeks are what I call 'Jobless Times in Bengaluru' along with Raghuram Belure. Coincidently, he too had quit his job and was on a look for a new job. And the circus began

The only thing that kept us busy was the internet. There was a desktop and a laptop. However, there was a single internet connection and we both are internet freaks. I really do not understand what worthwhile I was doing but I was online on a 24x7 basis. The guy who stayed on the floor above ours had a wifi connection which would work when he is at home. So, at such time (usually evening to morning), there was no problem. He (Raghuram) would use the desktop and I used my laptop to access the wifi network. Soon, it was discovered that we had nothing to do except browsing the net. During the day, it would become a difficult task the wifi connection would not be available and whoever catches the system first would be privilleged to use the internet connection. There was always a thought in the subconscious that I must get hold of the system. Most times, unknowingly, we used to rush into the home and quickly go and catch the system. Whenever we went out for tea or food, a competition to quickly catch the system would be running in our minds. Another problem was that there was a huge delay in going for lunch/dinner because of the same reason. The one who is on the system would not get up and the one who is not on the system would keep making effort to pull the other out for food. Most times, it even became difficult to go to toilet due to the fear of the system being captured by the other person. It was almost like kids fighting for the computer except that there was no verbal communication between us. All happened in the mind. While he would keep spending time searching for Dish TV, Tata Sky, AirTel DTH, etc. for his website, I would keep mailing or using FaceBook & Orkut. This became a routine and things went on in the same manner

At night, we would not get sleep as both would get the internet access (wifi). The joblessness had increased to such an extent that we would chat with each other on Google Chat though we were in the same room. There were enough instances where he would call the toll free numbers and toll them with his supernatural points. There was so much time and nothing to do. Yet, we never felt like we were free even for a moment. That is the power of internet. When we used to feel a little bored at night 1 am or 2 am, we used to go out for a walk. Koramangala, I thought, is an evergreen place but it did not stand up to my expectation. Almost everything came to a close by about 11 pm. At 2 am, the only reason why we would walk about 2 kilometers was merely to have a cup of tea. And why? Why did we want to have a cup of tea? What were we going to achieve by it? The only obvious reason was that we have nothing else to do. Once, it so happened that, P Ravindra (another SSBJ friend) came to visit us as he had holidays at his college. Poor chap, we made him stay awake all night listening to our useless stories. There was a big debate that happened between me and him for almost 2 hours on a topic on which no one in this world would want to debate. Yet, I debated along with Raghuram for the simple reason that we did not have anything else to do. It went upto 4.30 am and then, we decided to take him for a walk. He refused but we were nowhere near listening. We took him to the same tea spot which was about 2 kms and he was totally exhausted. Above all, we continued the debate and the laughter was endless. At around 5 am, he mistakenly asked me if there was a park nearby. That was it. We all walked for another 2-3 kms in the name of park and the park never came. I told them that I will show them some very beautiful homes and took them around for another 1-2 kms. I then thought what I was doing at this time in the morning. It was so crazy and showed how jobless we were that I was taking them around to show them some good homes. Soon, we returned home and went to sleep. When I look back, I seriously can not believe that I, once upon a time, had so much time in my life

Twitter become another superb companion for me. Whenever I would not be able to access the internet, I would keep tweeting using the tweet option through SMS. I used to tweet endlessly updating everything that was happening in my life. Today, a look at those tweets is really amusing. I can not even believe that I even tweeted some time in my life. Vodafone gives me a 100 SMSs free of cost every day and I would use this facility to the fullest. These days, I seldom see an SMS in my outbox or a read SMS in my inbox

These were the activities that we jobless people were doing during those 3 weeks. Time was a plenty and we used to device newer ways to kill time. We used to keep googling for all the waste things that would not have any meaning or any value at all

When I look back at all this, it makes me feel that it was all a dream. A dream which I wish will come to life and stay on forever. A serious look at life makes me wonder what at least is this life all about. I have always been trying to understand what at least is the purpose of taking birth on this land. If there is someone called God and if it is true that he is the one who owns us all and we are playing our roles as per his wishes, what is that for which he has sent us on the earth? Purpose is one big question for which I have not been able to discover an answer. These days, my life has been completely dedicated/devoted (or rather say sacrificed) for my organization. I have no regrets and I am happy for all the responsibilities that life has been ushering over me. The learning at this point of time of life that I am getting is something beyond my imagination. I might not have thought even in my dreams that I would land into such a big land of responsibilities at this age. Sometimes, I feel I am working beyond my possibile capacities and sometimes, I feel like to shout, "I am human being, Please do not treat me like a machine" while sometimes, I feel humbled at what life has given

Saturday, 28 August 2010

I heard someone say, 'There are a set of architects who are running the relay race to build the Modern India and Capt G R Gopinath is amongst the lead runner with the batton'. What an honour these words indicate...!!! And what a pleasure to listen such words about someone who is known to you. Capt Gopinath is an alumni of Sainik School, Bijapur and thus a part of the Ajeets Family. He is one of the most accomplished Ajeets. I would not want to write about his life, his business, his growth, his success, etc. as the world is aware of it. Off late, he has been in news for his book 'SimplyFly - A Deccan Odyssey'. The book, obviously, is the No. 1 bestseller now. His entrepreneurial journey from one business to another is not just simply amazing but an indication of the guts & belief he carries

The Ajeets OBA Chapter of Bengaluru arranged for a get together to facilitate interaction and gain knowledge from one of our own heroes. Things were scheduled to begin at 6 pm on 28 August 2010 and they did. Capt Gopinath arrived in his palatial Mercedes S320 and I kept looking at the glory. It was not the first time I was meeting him. Each time I met him, it was his humble attitude that never made me feel like he is a business tycoon and I am a small guy. His dressing was, as usual, very simple and he jumped into the occassion with so much of energy with his trademark gesture 'Hi Folks' to everyone and shaking his hands. The entire audience rose with happiness and there was a thunderous clapping that was going on. After a brief introduction and formal addressing by Mr Shashi Alabur & Col Ravindranath, the stage was handed over to Mr Gopinath

He spoke for a few minutes and in these few minutes, I, like everyone, was totally awed by his words. He spoke about his life, his work, his plans, his dreams and so on. What was most important was the lesson that we all had to learn from his experience. I understood that he is legend of entrepreneurship. He had the best of the best entrepreneurial characters developed in him through sheer hard work. Listening to all the kinds of entrepreneurial activities that he took up before making it big with Air Deccan, I was kind of amazed to see his determination and will power. It was beyond belief for me to listen to all the ventures that he took up in life. And even after facing so many failures, he never thought of stopping. There was no point of time in his life when he thought that it was too much and he should find a job to live life. That was one point that impressed me a lot. I have come across a great number of people trying their hands at entrepreneurship. They have everything with them. They have all the talent, focus, abilities, resources, plan, etc. But, the moment they face a failure, the immediate thought that comes on their mind is to get back to work/job. The entrepreneurial spirit does not die but does get suppressed. But, in case of Mr Gopinath, there has never been such an incident. There was absolutely zero thought of a job. Each time he faced failure and things turned difficult to impossible, he only thought of beginning a new venture. And this is what he terms as Continued Enthusiasm - One of the key component for growth as an entrepreneur

His talk covered interesting areas that even included answers to some in-person questions that were posed by us. He shared his principles of life which were of great help. A very important point that he bought out is about our routine activities. We all do the same things everyday and feel bored. Getting up at the same time, going to work, doing the same work, getting back home, having the same food and going to sleep. We all look for a change all the time. However, the strength lies in doing the same things again and again. With more experience, you gain expertise and become an expert in the field. Soon, people shall start coming to you for information and then, there shall be nothing stopping you. So, even doing the same things over and again calls for a lot of energy, dedication and effort. This could again be termed as 'Continued Enthusiasm'

In all, he conveyed the message that one needs to make efforts continuously. There is no other way that takes you to success. You need to consistently keep doing the required acts that are essentially elements of growth & development. This, perhaps, is the only recipe that guarantees you success

After the speech, we all spent some time speaking to him. I had my 2 minutes with him as usual. I am sure, for the number of people he meets, he would not remember everyone. I, for one, have been a part of that everyone crowd every time. But then, this thought didn't deter me my saying, "Sir, I'm glad to see you. I am Puneet. ADL/3210. 1997-2004 batch". He smiled and asked me what I did. "I work in HDFC Bank", I said. I don't know why but he seemed impressed. Its only later I learnt that HDFC Bank is his official banker. I got my copy of SimplyFly autographed by him. With a smile, I thanked him and made a move

Soon, I was a part, a very core part, of the mini Ajeet meet that was happening. Considering I was the youngest at the meet, I certainly had some eyeballs rolling over me. After food, we bid good bye to each other, exchanged cell numbers/cards and drove back

Thursday, 15 July 2010

8th July 2010 marks the completion of 1 month of life at HDFC Bank and the result is that, against all the odds, I have survived. It all began on 8 Jun 2010 when I was asked to report to the Hunsamaranahalli branch of the bank. This branch, being a relatively new branch in a upcoming rural area, needs a lot of effort to be taken forward. I was glad to accept this challenge. However, on landing here and experimenting, I found that I have come to a desert. The opinion is that this area being on the new international airport road has seen massive revision in real estate prices and people are minting money by selling their lands. This axiom holds true. However, the number of land owners are quite less. All the remaining persons in this area are tenants and have no land holdings and thereby, no such money.Hence, in this locality, where about 600-800 residents are staying, it just becomes impossible to do any business. Now, that is the challenge. Impossibles are something that I have been dealing with ever since 1987. Each time I am given something impossible to do, I have been making it doubly possible. But then, this task is not one amongst the tasks that I have been able to successfully previously. This is the one where the expectations are quite unrealistic. Yet, we are on a journey to make things possible with whatever realistics we have available to us

I have been seeing the world, a new world altogether, in the past one month. Awat from the pleasures of the city life, this is a difficult life that people are living in an area almost equivalent to village. People do say that it is tomorrow's Koramangala and as soon as this comment was passed, all that has seen a change is the real estate prices which have equalled that of Koramangala but everything else remains the same as of the village. To add, there is a lot of food problem, water problem and also a problem with the weather. I have been sick from a week. I was hit by fever for a few days while cold has become a part and parcel of life. The primary reason for this is the change in water. Further, this area serves hard water to the people and that has made life more miserable, at least, for me. I have been relying on boiled water for drinking purposes these days but due to this, the water content in the body has fallen down and has that has become another pain area. In all, my health has gone for a toss ever since I have landed here and the coin seems to fly even now having no plans to come down to ground normality

Progress shall be made. But progress will need its own time to progress. Expecting flowers to flourish without becoming buds is something foolish. Breaking the egg to get the chicken early can only destroy the egg and kill the chicken as well. The path looks great in the years to come. However, trying to reduce those years to months does seem an attempt to spoil the years

The toll of work, in a bank, is definitely too high than any other industry. I have started writing this piece of writing on 8th July and today is the 12th. I come about 1 hour early to work and leave quite late (let me not mention the hours) and yet, there is so much work to do that I could not devote even those couple of early or late hours for this. Responsibilities are increasing with each passing moment. A new task is assigned every day and the old tasks continue to be a part of life. Its quite a happy scene that I am being given so much to do. There is so much to learn, understand and grow. Its not just the basic learning but the learning of patience, learning of working hard, learning of managing people, resources, time, etc, learning of improving efficiency, effectiveness, performance, etc. and above all, learning that work is worship. In my case, I am in a place where I am supposed to manage each and everything that happens in the bank. Be it banking activities like account opening, account transfers, deposit, withdrawals, DDs, MCs, etc or be it extended activities like credit cards, loans, debit cards, privillege banking, private banking, classic, preferred sorting, etc. or be it operations like ATM maintainance, asset maintainance, infrastructure facilitation, allocation, distribution, etc. or be it scrutinizing like checking the BJR (branch journal report), suprise inspections, supervising of corporate salary account opening process, etc. or be it internal administration like branch operations, audit compliance, report generation, filing, pins custody, key custody, etc. or be it business development activities like client acquisition, CASA value enhancement, conducting activities, melas, functions, etc. In all, its like doing everything that is there on the earth to reach the sky

Saturday, 19 June 2010

Swagat is the induction program conducted by HDFC Bank for its new joinees. The objective of this program is to introduce the bank, its business, its products, its objectives, its core values, etc to the people who come on board for the first time. In most cases, the employees are asked to attend this program within the completion of the 1st month of joining. However, the same would depend on availability factors

I was pretty lucky to get this opportunity to attend it at such an early point of time. I was super excited when I got to know that I shall be going for the same from 14 Jun to 19 Jun 2010. My friends who are in HDFC Bank told me that they had to wait for 3-4 months for their Swagat scheduling to happen due to various factors like non availability of enough seats or very less number of recruitments happening and other factors. However, I was lucky enough to get it so soon. I joined on 8th and the Swagat was scheduled for me on 14th

On 14th morning of the month of June 2010, I reached the venue, namely Hotel Confident Propus (near Langford Gardens). I reached on time and saw that a good number of people had come. The trainer assigned to us was Ms Harsha Sahni. The first day was a general induction program where the concentration was purely on the bank, its history, its people, its objectives, its values, its cultures, etc. A large number of people attended this program. It was told later that half the people will not be coming from tomorrow as they shall be attending some other training at a later point of time. I was in the other half who were scheduled to be trained this week only

The next 5 days were spent in learning about the bank's products, services, processes, laws, rules, etc. Of course, there was a lot of fun with a lot of competitions being conducted by making different teams. I made the best out of it by having a lot of fun. After all, this was the time to do it. I was quite happy on the final day when the test was conducted and I scored the highest marks in it (which was least expected from me as I was the youngest and the most mischievous amongst all). Though I had the maximum fun, I never compromised even for a moment on learning. Banking is my passion & this kept my drive to learn on the highest gear

It was a great time spent in this week. I got to know a lot of people at work. We had some good fun in the class and enjoyed the time. It was a time quite well spent. There were even people coming from outstation (Mysore, Hospet, Belgaum, etc). The food served too was fantastic. Its now time to put this learning into practice & start working towards the goals. The performance expected from the employees is of quite a high standard at HDFC Bank. So, there automatically arises a need to rise up to these expectations

The Swagat has come to an end. The SuSwagat awaits to happen on Monday. Good luck to me and to everyone. Welcome to HDFC Bank- We Understand Your World

Wednesday, 16 June 2010

After all the circus that happened over the past 5 months, I have finally switched on to something constant. The huge fluctuations in the past few months was quite dramatic and made life, if not miserable, difficult. Everything went haywire and I kept swapping from one option to another option. I was back to my genes of uncertainty. Uncertainty is one big issue that I confront in my life. Of course, nothing is certain in life. However, in my case, this uncertainty is raised to the power of infinity. I have tried many a times to block this uncertainty by locking myself into something certain like doing a job. Honestly, I still consider my job as a way to beat my fickle mindedness. I do not yet take it as an option for career growth or earning money. My fickle mindedness and the countless options this mind gives me almost makes me go mad and so, I decided to put an end to this. As soon as I gave the last exam of CA PE-II, I quickly started to search a job. And in a week, I found out all the places that had openings and gave interviews wherever needed. There were numerous offerings that I received in BPOs, call centers & analyst profiles. The packages too were quite good. But, it was on my mind that I shall do a banking job only. I always wanted to be a banker. Thats perhaps the reason why I had a change from science to commerce after class 12th and then, after my graduation, I even did a PGD in Banking Operations. I have always been having this core passion of being a banker and a lot of effort has been made my me in this direction, though in vain till now, since a long time

I could attend only 2 interviews for banking jobs. I did not get to know if recruitments were happening in other banks. One was at Standard Chartered Bank & the other was at HDFC Bank. I was selected at both the places. However, I chose to go with HDFC Bank as I was offered a larger scale of operation and work (though a lesser salary)

There was a test to attest the intelligence of the persons who came over for the interviews. It was more like the competitive examinations testing on English, Maths, Logical thinking, Aptitude, etc. I guess, I did well in it. I was asked to wait for the interview. This was something that I liked because the hassle of coming again for the interview or following up could be avoided. The interview was taken by the Circle Head and I was selected. I was told that I shall be called later for further formalities

Things happened quite quickly. The interview was given by me on May 22nd & the offer was made by HDFC Bank to me on 01 June. I was offered the job role of an Assistant Manager (Retail). I was asked for the acceptance so that they could assign a branch location for me. I agreed. And on 08 June 2010, I was asked to join the Hunsamaranahalli branch of the bank with immediate effect. I had to rush to collect the joining kit from the HO in Bangalore. And then, there was a problem. I did not have any formals to wear. It was very awkward. I did not carry any formal wear from Hubli as I was having no plans to do a job. I wore a black shirt, a jeans pant & sports shoes to their office and the HR was astounded. I was asked to change and then go to the branch. I went to the nearest retail outlet and shopped for a shirt & shoes. Later, I went home, wore a formal pant & a tie, took all the necessary items and started my journey

Hunsamaranahalli is about 20-25 kilometers from Bangalore. It is a semi urban branch and is a part of the HDFC Bank's initiative to have a branch every 3 kms. It is a relatively new branch. I was heavily confused on the way to take to to reach this place. I had got the contact number of the branch manager. I called him and asked him the route. I got to know that it is located almost near Devanahalli International Airport. The bank believed that there is enormous business opportunity coming up on the airport road and its better to be there before others recognize it. However, my view of this place was quite different. I sincerely believe that no miracle can make this place business worthy at least in the next 3-5 years. Yet, I recognized it as an opportunity as we could make hay even before the sun starts shining. Thats the mantra for today's business as the world has switched on to such a fast track. Call JustDial and ask them something and before even you disconnect the call, you would calls waiting from the sellers & service providers. I'm afraid, a day will come when you call someone for some information and before even you get the information, you would be surrounded by all the vendors snatching you and tearing you apart. Thats the information era

With this switch from the dreams of 'entrepreneurship' to the regular role of 'Jahanpanaah tussi great ho, tofu kubool karo', I intend to mainly put some more discipline & decisiveness in to my life. I keep thinking and doing so many things that I end up completing nothing. That is one of the biggest complaint everyone has against me. I am a great starter but once the things are set, I get to start something else. With the job, I shall at least be stuck to this one thing which I have to continue and complete each day. The branch manager was quite impressed to see my marks and experience and also happy to note that I was decisive that I wanted to be a banker. Thank God, marks cards and certificates do not speak off line stories. The BM is from Tumkur and was quite happy to see a kannada speaking person join the team. This, being a new branch, had only 4 employees- the BM, the teller (cashier), the authorizer & the welcome desk. With my entry, the welcome desk officer was moved to another nearby branch (Sadahalli). So, we are now only 4 persons in the branch.There are other off roll employees who primarily take care of sales of CASA products, loans, insurance, demat, etc. Now, my task is to involve myself in all the branch operations. Be it offering services, assisting customers, boosting performance, increasing sales, achieving all the targets set for the branch, doing whatever necessary to increase profitability & productivity, etc

I got introduced to everyone at work. Though there was no royal welcome or something, the smiles that I was seeing on the faces of everyone was more than sufficient. The seat that I was taking over was vacant for more than 2 months. Whoever was offered this place denied to work for the simple reason that the place was out of Bangalore and the business possibility would be zero which will be a direct hit on the performance and growth prospects. Now, its time to see how I will tackle this challenge. I know, the world is watching

From 'Vishwas Hai to Sabkuch Hai' to 'We Understand Your World', the transformation of business values, ethics, culture, thoughts, etc has to happen. I definitely do not deny there is a huge difference in the DNAs of these two organizations. Its time to put some in my blood and start the race

Thursday, 29 April 2010

Whats the difference between a felicitation function and a motivational seminar? I had this question my mind since a long time. It was untill yesterday that this question remained vaguely answered in my mind. I got a befitting answer in the felicitation function aka motivational seminar held yesterday to felicitate super achievers from the Ajeets family (yet again, 'Ajeets' means the alumni of Sainik School, Bijapur)

It was long since we Ajeets at Hubli met. I remember the last time we met was to felicitate Ajeet P S Vastrad on being conferred with IAS. Our felicitation was so motivational that Mr Vastrad moved out from wherever he was and he, now, is the Commissioner of HDMC (Hubli Dharwad Municipal Corporation). This was way back in 2006 or 2007. Ever since then, there were no get togethers of the Hubli Dharwad chapters. I was quite keen to do something in this regard but I was tied up with my activities. All I could only put a word here and there

I was quite happy to read this message that indicated the achievements of Ajeets. I was more happy that the Ajeets family is so humble. I am sure that no one else would do such things like appreciating others (rather people feel jealous at other's success). But what was a happier indication to me was that the Ajeets of Hubli Dharwad would be meeting after a long time

The time and day came. I had called Veeresh in the afternoon (my batchmate & housemate from SSBJ who is now working as a Lecturer at VDRIT Engineering College, Haliyal) and he had promised to come. I logged in to the place amidst a little rain to find a few people on the place. I spoke to almost everyone as I knew all of them. The strength was increasing slowly and by 8 pm, the hall was full. I never thought that there are so many Ajeets in Hubli-Dharwad. It was amazing to see the numbers

The function began with a invocational song. And then, a series of dignitories began their speeches

Ajeet Maltesh Jeevannavar introduced the felicitees and welcomed everyone to the functional in his unique style. There was lot of hear about Mr. Dalwai. It was a delight to hear about the love and affection he has earned from the common people in all the areas that he worked. It was also fun to hear that how 1975 batch keep boasting saying that they are classmates of Ashok Dalwai. A serious listener with his ears open would have got the message deep into his brain

Ajeet Ajaykumar Sarnaik, who had come all the way from Bagalkot (which was denied by Prof Sidhram Nadagouda saying that he did not come 'all the way from Bagalkot' but 'just came from Bagalkot') congratulated everyone and spoke a little about politics and its humours

Ajeet Annasaheb Jolle, as usual, had more actions than speech

Ajeet Mahesh Mashal, the Adept foundation founder, congratulated everyone and spoke a little about success. He encouraged everyone to get their families to such meets. He also said that there is a reason why most Ajeets do not get their families to Ajeets function, he did not disclose it

Ajeet R M Hosamani congratulated all the achievers and wished them luck

Ajeet C S Hunshal, referred as founder of this revolution called OBA, spoke about some important elements. Towards the end, as usual, kept insisiting that its time for him to retire and stop speaking but nobody agreed to this

Ajeet Sidhram Nadagouda spoke towards the end to thank all the participants of this function. Of course, the largest share of the thanks was to Mr. Jeevannavar who was the one behind this meet happen

I might have missed out some. If so, please blame it on my poor memory

Oh, don't think that the felicitees did not speak or I forget that. Its the core of this function. My memory is not so bad

Ajeet Siddalingayya Hiremath spoke about his career. It was something unique. After having put in 8 years of service in the Armed Forces, he wrote KAS and qualified. He wrote KAS once again and got the 5th rank to the entire Karnataka state. And go ahead, listen to him, he says that he has still 2 attempts to crack the IAS. Wow, that a one in a million kind of a statement that I heard. He was humble enough to say that if he can clear KAS, any Ajeet can. All it required was sincere efforts and dedication. It was good to hear him

Ms. Bharati Patil thanked the Ajeets for this felicitation. She was happy that this was a real felicitation and not a felicitation to fulfill demands. And its now that I understood the difference between a felicitation and a motivational seminar. In a felicitation, you listen to someone so that you can demand something from him. In a motivational seminar, you listen to someone and he demands something for listening to him (fees). So, attending felicitations is, in some way, attending a motivational seminar at no cost. Madam was quite brave to say that BJP will continue to rule in Karnataka. She had glaring examples of the work that the government had done. She was all praise for Mr Yedyurappa government which is doing work for real. Indeed, listening to the live examples, I had to nod my head. Everyone applauded her and said that she should contest elections and become mayor and them MP and then a minister

The thought of Mr Devegouda & Mr Kumaraswamy still reminds me of Santa Banta playing with the chair. What have they given to Karnataka except Devegouda Petrol Pump(s) & Kumaraswamy Layout(s)?

Ajeet Ashok Dalwai spoke a lot about 'Adhyatma'. Perhaps, as he mentioned, it was the Ramakrishna Mission effect. He spoke about life, career, truth, honesty and many other aspects. He also highlighted something very important which struck my mind like an arrow, 'What is, now, important is not just becoming IAS or KAS or joining good job, etc. but the more important aspect is how quick are you getting into it'. This is so true, especially, if you have decided to spend all your life in the same profession

All this was a brief about the meet. It was finally disclosed, a known fact that, 'Felicitation tho ek bahana hai... The purpose was to organize a get together...'

The dinner begun. I had a good dine. Veeresh was too busy learning lessons from Mr. Siddalingayya Hiremath. I spoke with all the Ajeets I knew. Sadly, the drawback remains. At any Ajeet meet, though there are so many people, we never get to know others at all. There is no open socialization. Perhaps, the bonding between batches is so strong that it doesn't let you see around. Though I have been thinking, I have not found any way to resolve this. Unknown Ajeets are no less than strangers

On my way home, I thought that I must also do IAS. I laughed at myself and said, 'Of course, felicitation functions are no less than motivational seminars'. But then, a serious thought. Students at SSBJ are trained to join the Armed Forces. Only 10-20% of each batch gets into the forces. All the remaining people get into the latest trending jobs. For the last decade, the IT field is the most trending and almost everyone is an Engineer. No matter what engineering stream you study, you become a software engineer. A few are still passionate about medicine and become doctors. When a person is trained to join Army, why doesn't he join Administrative Services? The passing percentage of UPSC examinations at SSBJ is more than 80% (Last year, it was 90%). How different is this UPSC exam from the IAS Prelims? Why are students not trying for this?

I posed these questions to myself. The answer was very clear. Lack of awareness. We all know that there is something called as IAS exams but we never know a word more than that. It would be of great help to students if a seminar is arranged on how to go about this. While I was thinking on these lines, I even got another thought. How many Ajeets write IAS exams? If I look at my last 3-4 batches, I can say, 8-10 people out of 200-250 people. The numbers might be worse when we go to older batches as all of them got good jobs as software engineers and were exported to the US/UK. That was the trend. These days, the PSU jobs trend is picking up and more people are taking up such opportunities

Why not make it compulsory to write IAS exam? (It costs just Rs 100 only). Just like how SSBJ has made it compulsory to write UPSC exam two times compulsory, why not make IAS exams also compulsory? At least, there will be some interest amongst the students. Most students can focus and plan things. Students who are not interested, just give the attendance and come back

Now I know why they say, 'In our nation, nothing starts happening till it is made compulsory'

Sunday, 25 April 2010

Yesterday was yet another black day for a large number of people in the SDM College of Engineering because of yet another death, rather murder, of a student of the college. Kiran, a student studying MBA in the newly begun Department of Management Studies, was the victim this time. While his classmates all students were shattered, it was nothing new for the teachers and the principal of the college who, if not smiled, were indifferent

The incident is reported to have happened at 8.30 am on the same railway track which takes lives of students every year. One could browse through the records of the SDM College and find the record of all such deaths. Yet, no one is bothered. Mainly, the college is not. The society that runs this college in the name of Sri Dharmastala Manjunatheshwara is builing new institutions every day but not ready to built a small underbridge or overbridge for this college which is the most beautiful and oldest feather in the cap of SDM institutions. Mr. Veerendra Heggade, are you listening? I have heard you speak last time at SDM itself. Sorry, it might be a little wrong on my part as you are quite elder to me. But you spoke nothing except money. You spoke how much the building costed and how difficult it was to built it and all that stuff. Did you ever bother to do something to save the lives of innocent people dying here? Did you bother about those parents who will face a lifetime disaster with such events? Why are deaths so common in your college? Wake up Mr. Heggade, its not because of Vaastu. If you change the entrance of the building to the back of it and vice-versa, that will not help. And if you really believe in God, I am yet again sorry to point out that your institutions have more photographs of you on the wall than of God. Are you God or have you become Late Mr. Heggade? You have not but you have made many people lose their lives due to your negligence

Coming to the particulars of the incident

The SDM college has its entrance at such a place which is quite far for most people. People, instead of going around such a large campus (2 kms), park their vehicle at the back gate and enter the college. There is a railway track between this parking place and the college campus

A number of deaths have happened on this track. Yet, the college has not taken any steps towards doing something. Each time someone dies, they close the back gate of build a big wall so that no one can use that route. After some days, inconvenience peeps in, and they open the gates or break the wall

Kiran parked his vehicle at around 8.30 am and was crossing the same track. He stays in his uncle's home and his parents had come to visit him the previos day. They bought him a cell phone. At this time, when he was just going towards the college, he got a call from his parents who informed them that they were returning back to their place. Kiran was in a great hurry

A new rule has been made at SDM college. The students who come late the college on any day (even by one second) are supposed to pay a fine of Rs 500 (Rupees Five hundered only). Kiran, a boy from a middle class family who has grown in finacial problems, had this in his mind. He even uttered these words too to them that he is about to enter college now and in case of delay, he will have to pay a fine of Rs 500

What happened next & why? There are many versions and Kiran is not with us today to tell us the truth. But the result is before us. An unkind train had Kiran in its fate. His body was broken into several pieces. The nearby canteen owner, used to such incidents, said to himself, 'God, may this not be another death', before he came out. But, God had not heard him

Reasons might be many. May be he did not hear the train because he was on the phone. Or may be, he heard the train but he was determined not to be tortured for Rs 500 and he risked his life for it

What happened next was something worse than this

When students ran to check if he is alive, they could see his heart beat. His brain was visible. A part of his leg was meshed by the train. The bigger people (need I call them teachers, I feel sad) stood and witnessed the show. The biggest ones (the people who run the institution) did not even bother to come to the spot. The students tried to call ambulance but the ambulance were on strike. The bigger ones asked the smaller ones to stay away rather than to offer help

And then, the sound of another train was heard. The bigger ones now asked the smaller ones to leave it and come off. When the smaller ones asked help to move the body out of the track, the bigger ones refused. In fact, one very knowledgeable big man said, 'The train will run on the track. And the body is between the track. Thus, when the train goes, it will not hit the body. So, you move away, nothing will happen to the body', and smiled. Need we such great creativity?

But the the students took 2 red dupattas and went on both directions and the train was stopped for a minute. By now, Kiran had breathed his last seeing the most unkind people on this earth. He and his body parts, wherever available, were collected and placed beside the track

Whatever happened further has a lot of versions again. The truth is the students protested against the principal and the principal did not feel like coming out of his AC chamber. Soon, the lecturers came into play and things went weird

FINALLY, STUDENTS HAVE TO QUIT. WHAT ELSE CAN THEY WHEN THEIR INTERNAL MARKS AND THEIR FUTURE IS IN THE HANDS OF THESE PEOPLE

All they asked for is some basic infrastructure by building a small underbridge. And this was opposed by the college saying that its the duty of the railways and not the college's responsibility. But then, I wish to ask, how many days will the college keep blaming the railways? Ever since the inception of this college, these incidents have been happening and yet, there is no value for human life. Educational institutions, at least, should not have turned commercial. But today, unluckily, education has turned the most lucrative business. Though the McKinsey's reports are hitting at us saying that only 25% of engineering students, 12% of finance students & 8% of other disciplines are employable, we never bothered to improve our quality. Institutions never worry about students, their careers or even their lives. For them, what matter is the the pace at which they collect money and the pace at which they can open new colleges

What surprises me is that these institutions build new buildings worth crores of rupees but they are not ready to build a small bridge that might cost a few lacs. I thought why and I felt, may be, the buildings earn them revenue but the bridge will not. This is pure business. Who is worried about life? In fact, if someone dies, we can get a new student and another Rs 2 lacs from him/her

After all this that happened live on the premises of the college in the presence of media, the final playoff was more interesting. The final playoff was in the newspaper. It contained a story of how using headphones can take lives. Go, get life you moneysuckers, he never had a headphone. I understood that the reports have been totally manipulated to preserve the prestige of the college and ensure that the public does not throw stones on them. Further, the college also had a strong point to defend itself that there is an underbridge about 100 metres away from this spot. And students are not using this. If you really want the students to use that path, why have you left this path open? Further, why dont you build your back gate in front of that bridge? Why have you kept it at a wrong place? Stop playing with lives of people. You might win legally and justify. But, your conscience will not let you sleep. I am sure, you might have experienced this yesterday. Thats why, you had no guts to walk up to the spot

I thought, I need to protest on this. But then, who would listen to me. SDM? Railways? Government? Media? The students too will shut their mouths with the fear of losing their marks

So, I just thought, let me do my part by bringing out the truth. There might be more to this as well. And my final advice to you, like the newspapers, please be careful while using cellphones because they can take lives. Did SDM purchase me as well??? Or did I give up like the students fearing for their marks???

May the departed souls rest in peace. May the Lord give the strength to parents to bear this loss. May Lord listen to my prayer and may not innocent students die. May educational institutions focus at least a little on education and student life along with money. May the SDM society wake up to truth and do something

Writing a blog was such a beautiful activity of my life. An act that I treasured and an act for which I would love myself. The activity has reduced considerably and thereby reducing the love. Of course, there is nothing much happening in life and I have got nothing to write. Neither do I work nor do I go out of home nor do I come across people nor do I do any business nor have I been able to even do things that are basic for human survival. These days I feel the basic activities like having food, taking bath, etc as a burden in life. I have turned into a crap which the scrap sellers too wouldn't bother to take. Now, I have to agree that I did one of the biggest mistake of my life by dreaming. Dreams are very bad if the appropriate actions can not be taken to fulfill them. Someone has rightly pointed out, 'Don't dare to dream if you do not have the will to fulfill it'. And if you do, you are only spoiling your life. A live example for this is my life

I just imagined what has been happening over the past 4 months in my life. I left my job with an objective to study for ICWAI examinations. This was the first mistake. Having known that I am only a good scorer when it comes to marks but not a good reader, I should not have done this. I thought that I would receive the support that was promised to me while I was leaving the job but that never came. Whenever it came, either it was a lie or an effort to make use of me. Something that hit me just yesterday was the loss that I have bared in the process of trying to make dreams come true. It stands at an astounding Rs 1.2 lacs. Rupees One lac Twenty Thousand only. That's my salary for 5 months plus the savings that I had in the name of provident fund, deposits, etc that I had to break for survival. This learning has been quite hurting. Moreover, there is nothing to compensate for this hurt. Had I at least studied something, I could have told something to console myself. What do I have to smile about now? Of course, I can laugh on me for all achievements I did in the recent times

In the month of January, I left the coaching classes that I had joined in Bangalore giving reasons like I can not pay the fees, I can bear the cost of living for 5 months, etc. which were, partly, true. However, the main reason why I came to Hubli was some other issue that was troubling and, I thought, my presence would make a difference. I guess it did a little difference but it made a great difference to my life. I have never achieved anything worthwhile staying at home. Being at home means getting lazy and feeling bored all the time having no work. January came to an end

In the month of February, I realised this very soon that staying here will only rust me. I quickly started looking for options. I started looking for jobs in Bangalore. I found some but again there were some misunderstandings which stopped me for going for them. In the process of fighting these misunderstandings, February came to an end

In the month of March, I had almost become a loser having no options in life. I had declared to myself that nothing good will ever happen in life and this is how it is. I thought I should do something in Hubli at least to credit something to my bank account. The savings were drying up with regular debits and I was badly in need of some credits. By now, I had become lazy enough to not work. So, I started looking easier ways. I could not find any. Finally, I had to choose the way that had been an infection to me in the past. I was supposed to strictly avoid this as I did not want to fall into temptation. But then, things were so worse that I had no option either. Thus begun a fresh stock market journey and March came to an end

In the month of April, things appeared very lovely on the first day. It was one of the best April Fools day of my life. I thought that a new year (financial year) is beginning and I need to restart life. I logged on to YouTube and downloaded a lot of inspirational videos and watched them for 1 full day. The next day, I realised that inspirational videos do not have any effect on life. I failed yet again. I looked back at the number of time I had planned and it was mind blowing. I understood that another of my biggest mistake was that I thought of being a CA which is not possible in my life. I even wasted Rs 1600 for the examination fees now. And till these exams are over, I can not do anything as the mind will always be on this. The lazy mind has got a reason to reject every activity till then. I left the job for sake of writing CWApersists

I even thought of killing everything in my life and starting afresh. But then, how many times can I keep killing. I have done it enough number of times already. I suddenly got a thought of becoming a teacher/lecturer so that I can forget myself amidst the big crowd of students. I have thought so much about my life that I do not want to think anymore of it. Being in a college would make me think about lives of students and, perhaps, this would be a big relief from the irritations that I am facing for the moment. I even attempted for the same but I learnt that it is mandatory to have a post graduation qualification from an university approved by UGC. I do not have that. So, I had to give up on this thought as well. The SCDL gives me a PG Diploma in Business Administration which is equivalent to MBA that is given by UGC recognized universities for practical purposes. But then, that is not true here as there is a specific mention that the PG has to be from UGC recognized universities only. I realised another foolish step that I had taken. I also realised what big mistake I did by not enrolling for MCom external. I was very keen on this but I could not co-ordinate things by the last date for applying for the same

Another development in my life is that I have become so worthless that things like Orkut, FaceBook, and now Twitter, have become my primary activities. I have so much time to waste and not a single second to make use of because the most basic factor for making use of time is missing

You can be alone only when you really don't have anyone. Any attempt to be alone when there are people for you and you know that well, then, you will only end up losing. Alone are those people who are really alone. And only such people can succeed being alone. Others can not. Because each time you are trying to be alone or away from the world, you are hurting yourself. And one can not fake oneself for long

I eagerly wait for May 15 when I will be free of all this hell and I will get back to work. And never will I ever think of leaving job. A big good bye to entrepreneurship. It can not happen till either you are not getting any job anywhere or you have enough money to throw around and one of such throw offs will hit success. For middle class people like me, its better to do a job and live life. Enough of Robert Kiyosaki or Robin Sharma or CEDOK or anything else asking me to leave job and all that stuff

Monday, 12 April 2010

Its about 20 days since I wrote the last post on this blog and almost 40 days since I wrote on this blog about me or my life. Of course, there is nothing to write. Nothing's new, nothing's exciting, nothing's happening, nothing's worth writing about. People believe that I always make something or the other thing out of nothing but I have given them a tough challenge to remain stuck to these views. What can be a stronger evidence than me not believing in this thought anymore? Sometimes, people can not make anything out of everything though they make something out of nothing. Perhaps, its a better idea to have nothing rather than have everything because nothing makes you go and get something while everything makes you sit and laze. The fun with me is that I, perhaps, have everything resulting in making me nothing

Life has been like a fool's race with no purpose. I have been wandering mentally from one arena to another at a lightning speed. While I am browsing one thought, the other would have overtaken it leaving the former far behind. And each time, I keep leaving only traces on each thought thus nothing becoming an action. Its like skating on the surface of water. No matter how much you skate on it, you are going to be drowned ultimately

The calender has been changing dates for me and I have been postponing the dates of the scheduled work. Its so difficult to match the speed of the calender. Before even I postpone my dates, the calender would have gotten new dates and I need to sit and postpone them once again

In simplest words, over the past 101 days, all that has been done by me is ZERO work. I am proudly ashamed to tell this but I have no option either. Nothing has worked at all. Specially, the thought of studies is something that has never worked in my life. Its a baseless thought. I never succeeded in it. I get surprised beyond anything when I see that Karnataka University once ranked me amongst its top 10 graduates. That was a past time. Today, yet again, the rust on the iron is so high that, forget the shine, the iron is not able to show up itself. And only God knows how long will it take for him to clear the rust for my efforts have yield no results

CA is yet again a dream far from reality. I guess, I have made life's biggest mistakes whenever I have thought about this. Each time I have tried to do something in the name of CA, I have been a big loser. I have not only lost in it but other activities as well as I lose a lot of time in its name. I have spent nearly 7 years losing this battle and other battles due to this. I recently read, 'If you do not quit even after losing many times, losing becomes a habit'. This is an eye opener for me. I started up only CWA studies after getting this gyan but soon, where would the mind listen, I again fell back in to the trap designed to fool me

Give up, give it up. I told myself so many times but I don't know why it doesn't listen. At some point of time, I ensured that I will never fall in this trap by deciding to go to IFBI & then joining ICICI Bank and purely concentrating on career development through hard core work. But then, one fine day, this peeped in. And from then, life has been uneasy

I don't know how many more years is this thought going to haunt me for. The only way to get rid is to clear it but that is not getting possible more because of the rusted mind. To remove the rust, I need to clear it and to clear it, I need to remove the rust. It sounds something like, 'Does the hen come first or the egg?'

May 4th is about 18 days from now. Can I study 1 subject in 3 days and can something happen? Look, falling in the trap once again and that too, so openly. Have you seen a bigger blinding?

Let me fall in this once again for the one last time. Here's some attempt to put a schedule (which shall postpone itself till exams get over and ease this tensed life). MAKE or BREAK. Its the final call. I need to be totally firm on this decision now. I had a big dream of joining the Armed Forces. But, I had a firm decision that I will attend the SSB once only. If I clear, well and good. Else, no looking back. That strength of decision making is now needed. Perhaps, I was doing SSB for me and it did not make difference to anyone's life for me to have a second thought. But CA is something that I am not at all doing for me. It may not make any difference to my life. It will only add to other's wishes, hopes, aspirations and dreams. I dared to forget Army and forget my dreams in its connection as they were mine. But these are not mine

Here, I step into the web of hopeless attempt to do something hopeful which shall result into more hopelessness

Auditing- 13, 14

Business & Corporate Laws- 15, 16

Cost Accounting- 17, 18

Financial Management- 19, 20

Income Tax- 21, 22

Central Sales Tax/Service Tax- 23

Accounting- 24, 25, 26, 27

Information Technology- 28, 29

I am still left with 1 day to spare... What an utter foolishness!!!

PS: My left eye has started blinking yet again while I started writing the later part of this post

Thursday, 18 March 2010

I started reading this book on Feb 13 2010 when I was going to Bengaluru to attend an alumni meet. The book was so interesting that I was engrossed in reading it. I could complete about 40% of it in my journey in the train. After that, I could not make much time but I kept reading whenever possible. And today, on 18 March 2010, I am happy to say that I have completed reading this one wonderful book which has given a totally different insight to life

I loved the book mainly because it discussed those ideas which were running in my brain. While I read, I felt as if the book was written for me. Its one fantastic treasure that Robert T Kiyosaki & Sharon Lechter have provided to the mankind. No doubt, it has been the #1 New York Times Bestseller

The principles taught in the book are very helpful to everyone who wishes to achieve financial freedom. If not financial freedom, it shall at least help you getting out of financial struggles

I had a thought of reading this book from quite a long time. While most thoughts given in the book are that I had learnt as a part of my life, there were many other which I had to learn and look with a different angle. One difficult point that I found was that the book spoke a lot about investing into real estate when values go down. But I never see real estate values going down. It also speaks about finding bargain deals. But finding bargain deals itself can not become a regular business as bargain deals are not found always. Yet, the book says that we have to keep our eyes open to find them. This is something that I felt a little impractical

The comparision between the way the rich think and the way poor think is illustrated beautifuly by referring to Rich Dad & Poor Dad, the 2 fathers of the author. One gave birth to him and one made him what he is

It illustrates all the excuses the poor give to stay poor like I am not interested, I don't work for money, I am very busy, etc. Every penny that you earn can be used in different ways. Spending it on a party will make you poor, using it as a down payment for a loan or an EMI for a loan makes you middle class and investing it for income makes you rich. He shows why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer

It speaks strongly about building assets. Assets are those that generate income. He also says that our house may not be an asset but a liability. Poor and middle class feel that homes, vehicles, consumer goods, etc are assets while they actually are liabilities. The rich do not pay for such things from their incomes. They pay for such items through the income generated from their assets

There are 3 kinds of income. One is earned income. It is the actual salary/commission/profit made by a person from his work. Second is a passive income which may be rental income, income from a network marketing company, etc. Third one is a portfolio income which comes in form of interests, dividends, etc from investments. The rich has high levels of income no. 2 and 3 while the poor spend all life trying to earn income no. 1

One must always go for a job but that is not sufficient. One must also run a small business of his own. It may be something that can earn him some income. Once this business becomes large enough, he may retire

There are a lot of points that we can learn from the book and I recommend it as a must read for everyone

For those who wish to are ready to dare, he gives 10 steps to get started

The power of spirit- I need a reason greater than reality

The power of choice- I choose daily

The power of association- I choose friends carefully

The power of learning quickly- I master a formula and then learn a new one

The power of self discipline- I pay myself first

The power of good advice- I pay my brokers well

The power of getting something for nothing- I am an Indian Giver

The power of focus- I buy luxuries using my assets

The power of myth- I feel like a hero

The power of giving- I teach and I receive

Its one power recommendation to everyone to get ahead, get a copy of the book and read & digest the content

Learn all that you never learnt in 15-20 years of life at school & colleges. We learn so much in life but we never learn money. Thats how we feel money as such a complicated subject

Friday, 5 March 2010

It comes once in a year and by its nature, it keeps one so curious that a person keeps thinking of it so often and feels happiest when it comes. Its a day when you expect the whole world to love and care and wish you. Its the day when you were born in one of the previous years. And if you calculate the current year (2010) minus the year of birth (1987), the resulting number (2010-1987=23) is 'n' and its your 'n'th (23rd) birthday implying that you landed on this planet n (23) years back. Welcome to the world of Birthdays!!! The most celebrated days in a person's life

I too had one, just today, its still going on. I have another 99 minutes to end this day. Of course, the activities of these days have been well defined by the younger generation. You get calls at 12 in the night and keep awake till 1, 2 or all night if you have a so called girlfriend or boyfriend. You spend the day cutting a few cakes and getting the cream on your skin. You visit a restaurant and party lavishly. People who like it, might end up in a pub/disco towards the end of the day. All your work becomes secondary. You are at your spendthrift best today. You will buy anything for anyone today if he/she wishes you (with a gift). It becomes a kind of happiness of life and you you have a lot of fun. More so, if you have a bunch of like minded friends

Of course, my day too has gone in a similar manner. I had a bad mood yesterday. I had been to a doctor in the evening. I have this problem in my nose which is getting serious with each passing day. I was explained the usuals of getting a X-Ray, a Scan and then an Operation. The problem, I never thought, is so serious. I decided to meet another doctor before taking any decision. I came home, had food and went to bed having no idea (running in my instant memory- conscious mind) that it was my birthday the next day. I put my cell on a silent mode and went to bed. Some noise woke me. I looked around to see nothing. I took my cell to check the time. It was 11.59 pm and there were 3 missed calls. Before I could see, I could see that I was getting a call from Priyanka. It instantly hit me that it was to wish me. I recieved the call and thanked her and slept back. And then, in a couple of minutes, my entire family woke me up. My elder sister, Sushma & younger one, Spurti had got a cake. I blew the candles, the ballon burst and the cake was cut. 23 years of life on earth were signalled to have come to an end. So, life had lost one more year. Amidst confused thoughts that were rocketing my head, I put a piece of cake in everyone's mouth. It was a real surprise and I loved it. I guess, it was the first time I cut a cake at midnight in my home

I thanked God and then my dad and mom for every support, sacrifice, love and blessings ushered over me

I went to bed and could see that my mobile phone was ringing. However, I avoided picking up as my mind was in some sort of confusion. It was in some dilemma which was taking all my energy. And I did not want to upset anyone who had been awake till now and trying to wish me by not speaking properly

The usual thoughts of what happened in these 23 years, whats going to happen, what at least this life is, what is its purpose and all that went on at a higher thought level today which I choose to ignore from writing over here

I got up early in the morning and went to ISKCON. I don't know why I was feel quite sad today. I thought, 'What at least is this day?', 'Whats the deal in it?' and so on. A very beautiful pooja and aarti bhajan is done at the temple at 7 am which goes on for full 1 hour. Its heaven. Its serious heaven. I would sincerely suggest everyone to go here and keep your eyes open. Lord Krishna Balarama idol in the temple can not be seen initially. A curtain is put on the door. During the aarti, the curtain is moved slowly and when you see that, you just forget everything in this world. Its an experience that will make you feel good for a lifetime. It has so much energy. I attended almost 75-80% of the pooja and came out. The amount of energy these vibes fill in you is great. Sometimes, it makes me feel like life is such a fake scene created by human beings. Some selfish human being invented money and made it a standard of measurement. Some buy aeroplanes and some die of hunger. Some complete PhD, PDF, etc and some never go beyond 3rd class. What is this hell that we have created for ourselves? Tomorrow, if our children do not cope up with this and are unable to reach these standards, we would call them failures. And who set these standards??? It was trendy during my father's generation to leave village and get a job in city. Whoever did it was successful. And now, till last year, it was trendy to go to work abroad as a software engineer. I am considered a failure for not having become a software engineer and all software engineers are considered as failures if they are not sent abraod by their companies. What kind of foolish standards have we set? These days, after 6th pay commission, we consider those working in PSUs as successful. Thats why we see a whole lot of software engineers jumping trying to jump out. I don't understand how we accept these rules defined by someone. Are we so mindless? Tomorrow, if some other job/profession is considered successful, we will again run towards that. What is this race???

My mind was going aburst with all these thoughts defining the foolishness of human behaviour. Well, there is nothing much we can do about this. Because, if I am a software engineer and say this, they will tell me that you are also a software engineer, you don't you leave your job? and if I leave my job and say that, they would say, you are a loser and you are feeling jealous at our success. Fun(ny) life

I saw a summary of my life prepared on a powerpoint and it was a such an awesome feeling. I felt really too good and it was the moment of the day. I never knew that powerpoints could be so beautiful. Today, I learnt that there are people who can prepare better (I would prefer the word beautiful in lieu of better but as its my birthday, I have become a little spendthrift with my words) presentations that me and most others who I have seen. I can't write a few things which make me so emotional and feel so good. It was just a thing of beauty that defined joy forever

And now, I started taking calls. A lot of people called. Most of them unexpected and most of the expected ones too. Some calls that I expected to get a wish never wished me and I was stunned. All these beautiful moments are quite a fun to observe keenly. Parimala didi called after a long time. I was told that she tried calling in the night and I was rude to not receive the call. Its a nice feeling when people at least remember you on this day. It becomes a reason for you to communicate at least. I spoke to Siddu and Raju and got scolded for the same reason and of course, wished as well. Some surprise counters were Kiran Kalshetty (now a doctor in Gulbarga), Madhusudan Rao (software engineer in Infy, Chennai), Mahantesh Bhushetty (SE, TechMahindra, Noida), Pradeep Deshnur (SE, TCS, Hyderabad), Santosh AKG (SE, TM, Chennai), Raghavendra (SE, TCS, Bangalore) and many others. I was getting a bad thought in the evening that my ICICI friends in Hyderabad had forgetten me. And instantly, I got a call from Sashmita, Subhashree, Anshu and Maruti. It was quite good speaking to them after a long time as well. What seemed to be fun of the day is that Raghuram called me and I gladly spoke to him. And it was for a different reason. Shivling called for a different reason. Well, human mind, bloody thing, its just lovely to read its perception. I left it free to do whatever it wants and see what results I get to see now. My Orkut and Facebook have been filled with birthday wishes and I need to reply everyone honestly with a thank you message. Naveen and Vivek are calling me now but I did not receive the call as everyone's asleep. Oh! They messaged me. Thank you guys, I will call you tomorrow. Great that you all remembered. And now, I understood, YES, THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT BIRTHDAYS... ITS DEFINITELY A BIG DEAL... IT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER AMIDST THIS BUSY WORLD DEFINED BY FOOLISH AND SELFISH HUMANS...

I guess, it was a great coincidence today that I went to a movie and it was a first day, first show. The movie starred Ajay Devgan and his name in the movie is PUNEET. Hell, I thought I was dreaming in the theatre. I felt as if, birthday ka thoda jyada nasha chad gaya. But then, it was confirmed that his name was Puneet. Its a big deal because this is a very uncommon name and never did any lead hero use this name. And this being on my birthday, I thought even Warner Brothers planned a surprise for me. And next, he was a writer. And most thoughts were similar to mine. It was delight to watch. The movie was quite good. I can't rate it as a must see but definitely good to see. I forgot, the movie name is 'Athithi! Tum Kab Jaaoge?'

I had been to lunch to the one and the only hotel (for me) in my city with my friends. I just had a very little food as something was being cooked for me at home. I again felt a little irritated about life while having lunch but soon digested it all

I reached home to find that the birthday cuisine was ready. The regular food that I loved to eat was prepared. Poori, Khir, Gajar Halwa and Alu sabji. It was another delicious moment. Though the stomach had no much space, the mouth kept taking it in

I was feeling a little uncomfortable and drowsy. I lied on the bed and fell asleep instantly

It was 6.30 pm and I was woken up. Another surprise stood at the door. Deepak and Priyanka had come. I remember that this happens every year (since the past 5 years except the last one as I was at Hyderabad). Last year was another beautiful celebration. It was a time when I felt, life is perfect and beautiful. In common man's language, life was set. And then, I had again challenged life for something better and now, life is setting

Unfortunately, Priyanka had to leave immediately as her father called her. There was a big problem in city today and a curfew was declared from 7 pm. It was 6.45 pm. It was due to... Forget it... I will keep this topic for some other day. Not now. So, she left immediately and reached home safely. We all felt bad but things were not in our hands

There was a power cut since morning and I had not access to internet the whole day. Deepak and I sat till Sachin came. And then, even they starting getting calls to come home immediately. I thought of waiting for power to come but we had no time. The second cake was cut soon and the electricity came. Was this a surprise planned by God?

My mom loves to make people eat. More if she has prepared some delicacies. Sachin and Deepak took that position today. After having some little food, they left immediately to home

And thus, the day has almost come to an end. Another 20 minutes to go for the date to change. One thing I have always observed. I never ever studied on my birthday (I am not saying that I study on other days). In fact, when I was in school days, one or the exam would be there on my birthday. My younger sister has her social studies exam tomorrow. I thought of taking them to Cafe Coffee Day but the curfew thing had closed the city and ended the party before it begun

All in all, it was a nice day. I felt quite good. And the presentation that I saw in the morning is one of the most beautiful points of my life till date. This day, 05 March 2010, will be remembered by me for that

Friday, 26 February 2010

After a long hype, I finally made up my mind to go and watch MNIK. TO disclose with all sincerity, SRK is one actor that I admire for his charisma. He is one of the best actors on the earth and has given us some movies which shall be worth watching all life. Of course, one point I would like to tell is SRK is not taken seriously because he doesn't take anything seriously. We definitely love the sense of humour but in the process he utters a whole lot of non sense everytime. SRK can be the greatest entertainer but he can not be a great person. He can make you smile and frown but he can't make you happy or sad. I definitely wish to tell him to please take clues and be serious when he is speaking in the public domain. Respect is something which you need to gain. We all love you but I doubt whether we all respect you. When you gain respect, you automatically gain love. Do something for which we can be proud of you. Today's world is totally different in analysing things. No one sees how many dollars you have but they see how many do you give to the poor and to the society. It doesn't matter how many hundred crores you earn and how many crores worth investments you make but it heavily matter how many lacs or even how many thousands of money you contribute to the welfare of the nation. Its the world which demands action and not words. SRK is more of words

I completely agree that Pakistan should have been made a part of IPL3 considering the point that we must not discriminate. However, it was a shock for the entire nation when you said some time back that Pakistan is a great neighbour to have. Do you know that one of the major hindrances for our growth is the existence of this nation at our border? Do you know how many soldiers die in the attacks across the border? And all these attacks are done by the terrorists who have been supplied the Pakistan Army uniform. Did you not see Border? Don't you read newspaper? Don't you watch news? Grow up SRK, please note that we are lacs of people who are your die hard fans and such statements from you make us helpless when someone asks us, 'Who is your favorite hero?'. Be a hero in real life. Be a patriot. We have ample evidence that Pak is hitting us in every angle from the back. Pak has now started a new story that even it is troubled by terror. Just today, a suicide bomber attacked Kabul. There have been attacks earlier as well. But open you eyes and see who died? They were Indians. So, Pakistan is not hit by terrorists. Instead, Indians in Pakistan are hit by them

Did you not read the mail that was openly written to you by ? Please read it. Spend some time and to analyse things. Its my humble request to you to please speak responsibly. Enough jokes Mr. Khan. It time for you to be more serious in life. I know you have enough money and have got nothing to worry. But please, do not harass your fans. We feel so hurt when you speak such rubbish words. At least from the next time when someone asks me who my favorite actor is, give me enough points to say that its you

Coming to MNIK. I really did not understand what was the purpose behind making this movie. I guess, it was to show to the world that all muslims are not terrorists. Only some are. So, please do not torture the others who are not. But then, how will the world identify who is a terrorist is who is not. Will you write it on your head or will you wear a T-Shirt on which it shall be written? Instead of asking the world to be nice to you and treat you correctly, why don't you go and kill all those people who put you in this situation? I know that every ordinary Muslim is as innocent as any other person, be it a Hindu, Christian, Jew or whatever. I do not believe in this system of religion at all. I know only 2 religions, Good and Bad, which you have so beautifully displayed in your movie. You have also taken an initiative in you movie to expose the terrorists and stop wrong thoughts to spread like a virus. Movies apart, why don't you do it in real life. Mr Khan, why don't you form a Anti Terrorist Community in India and lead it. Forget India, you have the power to engulf the entire planet. Why don't you make this a purpose of your life? If you really love your God and religion, which I totally believe, this will be the greatest gift you can give to Allah. Do something. Capture and end all those who are doing wrong activities in the name of Allah. When a person does all wrong things in the name of Allah, how do you expect the world to respect such a God or such a religion? They say that they are doing it as Jehaad and it is for the welfare of Muslim bhai log. And you say that you are not related. When your son does a mistake and you see it and keep quiet, you are equally, or in fact, more responsible for the mistake. I bet, if people like you continue such statements, time is not far that the world will start recognizing you too as terrorists. So, please do something. Let not the name of God lose its importance. I understand your innocense. I know that what I am asking you to do is something which might not have even thought about in your dreams. But, think about it. We shall be proud fans of SRK forever

Coming to the movie, solely the movie. The evergreen jodi SRKajol was definite to spark magic on the screen. The theme was good. The story was good. SRK was performing such a role for the first time in his life and he did quite well. Kajol too was doing a movie after quite a long time and she managed to perform well. Karan Johar, as always, rocked. The movie too rocked. There was a good lesson to all of us. There was also something to learn about lives of autistic people. Overall, a great movie from great people of the industry

I am sure, one day, someone will take the initiative to abolish all the kinds of blames that have been put on Khan and it can be done by a Khan only. Not by asking the world or telling the world to treat them nicely but by bringing before the world those Khans who are doing all wrongs and spoiling the image of all Khans. And I wish, a hero on the screen should play a major part off the screen to make this happen

Saying I am not a terrorist is looking for safety and security which will remain for the short term till the next terror attack. Saying I will fight terrorism and I am anti-terrorists is daring to fight for the honor and restoration of respect and gaining of love for lifetime